Plaza de Armas y Paseo Ahumada, Santiago, Chile

This was the best video I could find about the "tourist track" in Santiago. The Paseo Ahumada is a pedestrian only walkway which was great for people watching, although I it is contrasted with the most abject poverty I've ever seen.

Of course, there are panhandlers/beggars or whatever you want to call them but I saw 2 men who were laying on the ground, shirtless and with their cups out for spare change. What was different about them though were both these men were hunchbacks.

Like hunchbacks so bad they couldn't stand up straight. This was something I never thought I'd see. I don't know anything about the Chilean medical system so I don't know if these men get free medical care and they are just begging for money for booze (this is one case where I can definitely see being an alcoholic) but it was very disturbing and sad.

And yes, I did give them money.

Santiago, Chile

I returned to Santiago by bus from Valparaiso. Santiago was actually a pretty cool city and I wish I had budgeted more time to visit. I only spent about 2 days there.

The subway is the extensive and very cheap and there are quite a few vegetarian restuarants. I've always heard people from Argentina are supposed to be so attractive but I thought the Chilean people were much better looking on the whole (and not a man bun in sight).

I rented an apartment which is definitely the way to go if you're going to be more than a few days. I recommend Inmoba Apartments which are located in the Providencia section of town. This was the area I liked best, although Barrio Bellavista was also great--this area is full of cafes, restaurants and bars. While I like travelling solo, I'm not a fan of eating by myself and as a female, I don't really want to chance going to a bar solo in a foreign country.

Which is why I like renting short term aparmtents. You pay the same or less as a hotel and you can buy your own food/wine. I love checking out grocery stores in different countries (did you know that in England they call eggplants aubergines? Learned it in a grocery store. Oh snap.)

Then I climbed to the top of Cerro Cristobal, which wasn't entirely intentional. I was wandering around and saw all these people heading up a walking path so I decided to follow. When I saw the zoo (it's at the bottom of the hill) I knew where I was but if I had known how high that freaking hill is, I probably wouldn't have attempted it.

It's a pretty gentle incline but it NEVER ends! You cant take a funicular (they have these in Valparaiso too) but I was too far in for that. There are benches along the way to take a break so it wasn't really too bad.

The day I went, there was some kind of religious festival going on (how many religious festivals can one person get caught in in Latin America?...I was hotel bound for 3 days once in Costa Rica because of Easter Week where everything shuts down. Did not know that before I booked the trip).

There is a church and HUGE statue of the Virgin Mary at the top of the hill. As well as refreshment stands selling this weird drink of peach juice with huge wheat kernels in it (mote con huesillo). I wasn't brave enough to try one.

The view from the top of the hill was definitely worth the trek although the smog kinda kills it.